The embodiments described herein relate generally to a home energy manager, and more particularly, to transmitting operating cycle alerts for appliances coupled to the home energy manager.
Utility companies commonly charge a flat rate for energy, but high energy usage during certain parts of the day, utility companies have to buy more energy to supply consumers during peak demand. Consequently, utility companies are beginning to charge higher rates during peak demand. Accordingly, at least some known systems utilize a home energy manager coupled to a plurality of devices and/or appliances. The home energy manager monitors the amount of energy supplied to the devices and/or appliances, and may switch off the actual energy supplied to the devices and/or appliances to reduce energy usage particularly during peak demand periods.
One or more of the appliances connected to at least some known home energy managers perform an operating cycle. For example, a dishwasher washes dishes for a predetermined washing cycle, and a dryer dries clothing for a predetermined drying cycle. Further, at least some known appliances generate an end-of-cycle alert when an operating cycle is complete. For example, an appliance may emit a sound or display an icon when an operating cycle is finished. However, at least some known systems do not provide an alert to a user before the operating cycle of the appliance is finished. Accordingly, in at least some known systems, users may only become aware of the end-of-cycle time when the end-of-cycle actually occurs, not beforehand.